FEATURE > BRENT MASON
After accidentally riveting a hole completely through
his thumb while working at a
toolbox factory, Brent Mason
realized that if he didn’t fol-
low his dream of becoming a
professional guitarist, sooner
or later that dream wouldn’t
be an option. So the native of
Van Wert, Ohio, hit the road
at age 21 and headed straight
for Nashville. Not long after
arriving in “Music City,” Mason
became a fixture on the studio
scene. He eventually became
the No. 1 session player in town
and one of the most-recorded
guitarists in history. Along
the way, he’s won countless
awards, including a Grammy
for Best Country Instrumental
Performance (with Brad Paisley,
Albert Lee, and John Jorgenson,
among others), CMA Musician
of the Year (twice), and the
Academy of Country Music
Guitarist of the Year—which
he’s pulled off an astonishing
12 times. In addition to being a
consummate hired gun, Mason
is also a highly regarded vir-
tuoso solo artist.
114 PREMIER GUITAR FEBRUARY 2012
The only negative thing about the
studio scene … is that you kind
of lose who you are, because you
become such a chameleon. And
you become such a perfectionist
that, after a while, you might not
like anything anymore.
out it was Mason, they’d seek
him out for their recordings.
Higher-profile artists like Keith
Whitley also took notice—
Mason played and co-wrote
tracks such as “Heartbreak
Highway” from I Wonder Do
You Think of Me, Whitley’s final
album before his tragic passing.
Soon, Mason became first-call
on just about every A-list session, including those for albums
by Reba McEntire, Shania
Twain, Rascal Flatts, Toby
Keith, and Neil Diamond. He
also did soundtrack work for
TV shows like Friends and movies like A Few Good Men.
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